The Cycle Called Yourself

A review by Kelvin Russell of “The Way of Excellence” by Brad Stulberg.

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“The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself.“

So writes Robert Pirsig in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. That book emphasises the philosophy of quality, drawing on examples of, among other things, motorcycle maintenance. It’s not a self-help book: Pirsig discusses at length the path from mental illness of his unreliable narrator Phaedrus, so its focus isn’t giving positive psychology advice. He does talk at length about the personal experience of working on a motorcycle and notes that this effort is two-pronged: you’re working on a machine, but you’re also working on yourself.

This passage is a starting point for Brad Stulberg in his latest book “The Way of Excellence”. He is strongly influenced by ZMM and informed by years of sports consulting, sports participation and research. He describes a path of excellence: different to Pirsig’s Quality, different to Csikszentmihalyi’s flow, but practical and broadly useful in the current day.

Stulberg finds a path between striving to win and taking time to rest that he calls excellence. Necessarily this focusses on the here and now, on being engaged with the process rather than striving for the result. Excellence is balanced, not too much, not too little, and many of the examples he uses seek the middle ground. Many of the fields of discussion include examples of both excess and insufficiency. In the chapter “Discipline” Stulberg gives examples of where discipline is necessary, but also where self-kindness is important.

Pirsig devoted substantial parts of his book to a discussion of quality. Not only as a metaphysical concept, although he discussed that as well, but in the sense of a craft, of seeking excellence in something done or maintained. He drew particularly on his engagement with the maintenance of his motorcycle, talking about how a careful amateur could do better work than a “professional” distracted by deadlines and loud music. He goes deeply into the process of taking time and not hurrying, doing research (he carried two manuals on his ride), and the necessity of finding innovative solutions to problems. In “Excellence” Stulberg draws on substantial research, discusses time pressures and allocation of effort, and makes many novel suggestions.

Time is an ongoing theme in the book. Examples are provided about how Brad disciplines his writing and also how he disciplines the rest of his life. Examples are given of time without devices, time with family, time when he must work, and time he may be flexible. Pirsig had given examples of hurrying with bike maintenance, or hurrying with riding (going too fast). Excellence is to be found in finding the right allocation, the right speed, the right engagement.

Innovation is necessary to find excellence in anything. Rarely will something that is done according to a recipe, without some extra imaginative input, be excellent. Memorably, Pirsig suggested using a beer can to fix loose handlebars on his riding friend’s BMW. Stulberg devotes a whole chapter to Gumption, the ability to keep going despite setbacks. He describes taking solutions from other domains to free up blocks, finding innovative solutions.

Research is important. Stulberg has clearly done large amounts of research, drawing on examples from a wide variety of people achieving excellence in a large variety of fields. The notes section at the end is extensive, not only showing where the research has been done but providing a pathway to further research for interested readers. Although it’s not academically referenced these notes are sufficient to be able to check his sources and also to follow up points of further interest for reading to greater depth.

Excellence is distinguished from Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow” early in the book. They are perhaps more closely related than Stulberg describes. Stulberg asserts that excellence is values laden, in comparison to flow, which is values neutral. But, flow requires that one be absorbed in an activity of interest: necessarily this is an activity that has value. Also, Stulberg distinguishes excellence from “shitty flow”, the state of being absorbed in something mindless like playing a slot machine. However, this isn’t really flow, it’s more pseudo flow. Particularly, flow requires concentration and challenge, but the shitty flow of mindlessly scrolling social media is obviously not this.

More importantly than the question of definition of terms, Stulberg and Csikszentmihalyi both reach their point of clarity after discussion with a wide variety of people from different walks of life having similar experiences at the peak of their practice. Although they describe this clarity differently the lessons they draw are similar. With “Excellence” Stulberg provides a set of concrete examples and pragmatic suggestions that will be of interest to people who seek flow in their lives.

This is not Stulberg’s first book, nor his first foray into public discussion. The ideas in “Excellence” rely on and extend his previous books and also his podcast “excellence, actually”. It also draws on Stulberg’s academic work in both University of California and University of Michigan. “Excellence” is valuable because it provides a current picture of Stulberg’s work and also because it contains all the core ideas on one place, clearly structured and easy to navigate. Many of the ideas are also in his podcast, but that is not so easy to reference and, in the joy of its format, wanders into a variety of interesting topics depending on their availability and currency.

Excellence throughout is acknowledged to be a personal pursuit, working both on external goals and on oneself. This emphasis on personal growth ties together the pursuit of excellence in sporting or other goals and the very real implications on one’s self: as one achieves as a sports person one also progresses in self-knowledge and personal robustness. Lots of examples of this are given in the book, anchoring it in personal experience, whereas ZMM concentrated on the grand metaphysics but was somewhat light on the application to personal growth. Many people have read ZMM and found it relevant to their path in life, but it’s not a self-help book: it makes only broad suggestions of personal growth, not specific.

“The Way of Excellence” provides and describes a path towards balanced achievement. It’s relevant in sports and to sports people, but is also relevant to other human pursuits and to other professions. It provides a balanced structure for striving to achieve in whatever field one chooses. It has extensive notes, making it easy for interested readers to check Brad’s sources or to research in greater depth. It will be of interest to readers curious about applying ZMM to current day problems, to sports people seeking specific goals, and to anyone seeking achievement. The book is a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion about quality, flow, and excellence.

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“The Way of Excellence; A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World” by Brad Stulberg was published January 27, 2026, and can be ordered here.

Brad’s website has links to his other work: https://www.bradstulberg.com/
Brad’s podcast “excellence, actually” is available at “The Growth Equation” https://thegrowtheq.com/

Our previous announcement of the anticipated publication.
Kelvin is a motorcyclist with a long interest in the writings of Robert Pirsig. His blog is here.

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